President Trump has put Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on an acting basis.
Two days after firing Rohit Chopra, who was nominated by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and was serving a five-year term that was set to end in late 2026, Mr. Trump named Mr. Bessent as the bureau’s acting director.
“I look forward to working with the C.F.P.B. to advance President Trump’s agenda to lower costs for the American people and accelerate economic growth,” Mr. Bessent said in a statement on Monday.
Soon after he was named, Mr. Bessent ordered the bureau’s staff to pause much of its work, according to an email that was sent to staff members and was seen by The New York Times. Employees were instructed not to issue or approve any proposed or final rules, and were also told to suspend all final rules that have been issued but that have not yet become effective, according to the email.
Staff members were also instructed not to start new enforcement investigations or continue working on those that were in process. The bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Mr. Chopra expected that he would be fired quickly by Mr. Trump, he remained in his post for nearly two weeks after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
The delay in firing Mr. Chopra irritated Republican lawmakers and banking trade groups who had publicly called for him to be removed. After Mr. Chopra began leading the bureau in 2021, he aggressively sought to expand the authority it had over banks and other financial firms.
The decision to install Mr. Bessent comes just a week after he was confirmed to lead the Treasury Department. Under the Vacancies Act, a law that governs federal agencies, a Senate-confirmed official can temporarily fill the opening at the head of the consumer bureau.
Mr. Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager, will be taking over the bureau even as he already oversees much of Mr. Trump’s economic policy agenda. As Treasury secretary, Mr. Bessent will be playing an influential role in helping to develop the administration’s tax policies, tariff agenda and its first budget.
During his first term, Mr. Trump also named an acting director to lead the consumer bureau. Mick Mulvaney, who was the director of the Office of Management and Budget, led the bureau until he was succeeded by Kathleen Kraninger. Mr. Biden later ousted Ms. Kraninger upon taking office.
Banking trade groups praised Mr. Trump’s selection on Monday.
“There are a number of immediate actions Secretary Bessent can take to rescind the partisan policies the former CFPB Director has taken that adversely affect consumers, and we stand ready to work with him to reset the CFPB,” Lindsey Johnson, the president of the Consumer Bankers Association, said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing who President Trump will choose to lead the CFPB on a permanent basis to restore trust and durability to the Bureau.”
Progressive consumer advocacy groups urged Mr. Bessent to prioritize the bureau’s work.
“There already is massive pressure from Wall Street, predatory lenders, and various billionaires to gut the C.F.P.B. and stop it from pursuing its very popular mission of actually doing right by consumers,” Christine Chen Zinner, a senior lawyer for Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement. “The C.F.P.B. was created through legislation passed by Congress and the law gives it a job to do that Bessent is not permitted to simply ignore.”
Stacy Cowley contributed reporting.
